Taboo Online

By the time the senior Bureau official walked away with Thalen’s recommendation open on his tablet, Red Hound had already turned back toward the command staff.

"Stand down the temporary Ruinborn Hunt task group. Route Nine closes this operation. Prisoner handling, evidence review, and anything connected to the receiving-frame investigation transfer to the permanent case teams."

Acknowledgments came through the command channel from teams scattered across North Basin and the city.

One by one, the temporary operation markers disappeared from the main display. The silent freight yard went gray first, followed by the Southbank glasshouse, the pumping station, the relay sites, the central exchange, and finally Route Nine.

For days, every lead had opened another path toward someone connected to Lethariel’s destruction. Whenever one operation ended, another target appeared somewhere else.

This time, the map stayed quiet.

Luke sat in his field chair and stared at the empty threat list longer than he intended.

He had imagined reaching this point several times during the Hunt. In those versions, he usually felt relieved or proud. Maybe everyone congratulated one another before finally getting some rest.

The real ending was much less dramatic.

Technicians packed temporary equipment into reinforced cases while tactical officers transferred evidence logs to permanent investigative teams. Several vehicles that had remained on standby received new assignments, and medical staff began collecting monitors that were no longer needed.

There was no cheering or grand announcement that they had won. People simply started returning to their regular responsibilities.

Near the Heartroot, Aelira had already done the same.

Several Rootkeepers waited beside her with questions about shelter placement, injured families, and the expanding roots beneath the artificial lake. A Thornmender knelt nearby with a wounded elf whose leg remained wrapped in pale living bark.

Aelira listened to each problem in turn.

The four Ruinborn prisoners were alive and in Bureau custody. For now, that was all she could do about them. Hundreds of living elves still depended on her, and unlike the prisoners, they could not wait inside reinforced rooms until tomorrow.

Lauren remained connected to the Heartroot long enough to feel Aelira’s attention briefly return to her.

Go with him.

Lauren looked toward Luke.

"I think I’ve been dismissed."

"By a queen?"

"Mhm."

Luke considered that for a moment. "Probably not much of an appeal process."

A small smile touched Lauren’s lips.

The Bureau liaison assigned to Aelira remained only a few yards away, the familiar pictographic system open on her tablet. It could not carry complicated thoughts the way Lauren’s connection to the Heartroot did, but it worked well enough for medical requests, transport orders, status updates, and most of the practical communication North Basin required.

Thalen’s field display used the same system.

During the later operations, both sides had become accustomed to working around the language barrier. Lauren could finally leave without worrying that every simple question would turn into another emergency translation session.

Luke looked toward Thalen.

The Rootkeeper had already noticed the medical team gathering around Luke’s chair and crossed the distance between them.

Without the Heartroot, Luke and Thalen still couldn’t hold a real conversation, but they had spent enough time together that words were no longer necessary for everything.

Thalen pressed one fist to his chest, then raised two fingers and used one of the Bureau field signals Luke recognized.

Return.

Luke repeated the gesture.

"Yeah. I’ll be back."

Thalen probably understood the signal better than the sentence, but judging by the slight dip of his head, that was enough.

Luke wondered what would happen once the permanent liaison request was approved. Thalen had come to Earth as one of Aelira’s surviving protectors, carrying grief and anger from a kingdom that no longer existed. Now he might end up working alongside the same human organization that had helped hunt down the people responsible for destroying it.

Months ago, Luke would have assumed Thalen wanted nothing more than revenge.

The Hunt had proved otherwise.

He had watched the Rootkeeper stand over enemies he had every reason to kill and choose restraint because Aelira needed answers more than corpses. Luke respected him for that, especially because he knew how much easier anger could make the alternative feel.

Rhea approached from the other side of the command shelter. A compression brace remained secured beneath the damaged side of her armor, and her single scarred panel had already been dismissed after Route Nine.

A field medic followed close behind her.

She glanced at Luke’s chair. "You’re going back to Shaw?"

"Apparently. What about you?"

Rhea looked over one shoulder at the medic following her. "Apparently, I’ve lost the right to walk anywhere without supervision."

"Your shoulder needs another scan," the medic said.

"My shoulder is fine."

"And the panel?"

Rhea’s mouth tightened.

Luke smiled before he could stop himself.

She noticed immediately. "Don’t start."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You didn’t have to."

The medic folded his arms. "Her panel needs another stability check before she’s cleared to manifest it again."

Rhea sighed. "There. Happy?"

"A little."

"You are sitting in a transport chair with one working hand."

"That doesn’t make your shoulder better."

"No, but it should make you less smug."

Lauren rested a hand on Luke’s shoulder before the conversation could turn into another contest over who was less injured.

"Both of you are going to listen to the medical staff."

Rhea glanced at Luke. Luke glanced back.

Neither looked particularly happy about it.

"Fine," Luke said.

Rhea reluctantly nodded as well.

Lauren smiled. "Much better."

Red Hound approached before either of them could reconsider.

He looked at Rhea first. "Medical review before you manifest that panel again."

"I know."

"Then I shouldn’t have to repeat it."

Rhea opened her mouth, thought better of whatever she had been about to say, and settled for an irritated breath.

Red Hound turned toward Luke.

"Your transport is ready."

Luke looked down at his right hand and carefully tried the fingers again. His smallest finger curled weakly toward his palm. The next moved after a moment of concentration, though not nearly as far. The remaining fingers barely responded.

At least the cold sensation had stopped.

The medic watching his monitor checked the latest readings. "No renewed reaction."

"So that’s good."

"It means the signal is inactive. It doesn’t mean it’s gone."

Luke leaned his head back against the chair. "I know. I really do."

The medic’s doubtful expression suggested Luke’s recent history had not earned much faith.

Red Hound glanced toward the command post. "The Bureau liaison stays with the Queen. Thalen remains at North Basin while the permanent-liaison request is processed. Rhea goes to medical."

Then he looked at Luke and Lauren.

"You two are finished with field duty for this operation."

Luke stared at him.

"For real?"

"The Hunt is over."

The words landed differently than Luke expected.

His gaze returned to the Heartroot. Aelira stood beneath its silver branches, surrounded by people who needed food, shelter, medicine, and leadership.

Lethariel was still gone.

Capturing four people had not changed that.

The Hunt had given Aelira prisoners who might eventually answer her questions. It had stopped the Ruinborn from opening another passage beneath Route Nine. It had prevented whatever waited beyond that opening from reaching Earth.

Those things mattered.

They simply weren’t enough to make what happened to Lethariel feel like a victory.

Luke looked at Thalen one last time.

The Rootkeeper had already turned toward one of the Bureau liaisons, studying a new series of pictograms on his field display. His work wasn’t over, and neither was Aelira’s.

Luke finally looked back at Red Hound.

"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I guess it is."

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